Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Bringing light to the nuclear energy secrecy

Bringing light to the
nuclear energy secrecy

The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) hosted a
Nuclear energy seminar on the 3rd September 2015 at the Austerville
Community Hall at 5pm.Mr. Vladimir
Slavyak was the key speaker. Vladimir is a
senior lecturer on Environmental Policy at the Russian National Research
University and is also a part of a Russian organisation called Eco Defence. He
has been campaigning against nuclear energy for 25 years. He is also the
author of ‘From Hiroshima to Fukushima’ which chronicles the 2011
Japanese nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi and describes the Russian
nuclear industry's lack of preparedness for similar accidents. He has also
written over 300 articles on environmental and energy issues, which have been
published in both the Russian and international media.

Despite
the terrible weather, many south Durban residents were eager to hear about
proposed disastrous nuclear development. Mr Slavyak shared his experience of
nuclear reactors in Russia. He stressed that many countries don’t consider the
fact that decommissioning a nuclear plant is as expensive as building a new
one. The companies who are creating these nuclear reactors are not honest.
According to Mr Slavyak “The
capacity to build reactors is very limited, they can only make one a year. They
made a deal and 5 years later construction of the nuclear reactor had not
started.” In Bulgeria, the Russian promised to create a reactor for 5 billion
RUB, however ended up demanding 10 billion RUB.

There have been too many nuclear accidents that have occurred;
some have been kept a secret. The Chernobyl accident that took place on the 26th
April 1986 was first announced as a minor gas leak however it has been the
biggest and worst nuclear disaster to date. He said he measured the radiation
level in the area and found that it was extremely high. He further explained
that the reactors need huge amounts of water to cool down or they could
explode. They use the water and discharge it back to the source from which it
is taken, which increases the radiation in the water.

The high level of radiation can cause many health
problems such as genetic disorder and cancer. There is a great lack of
knowledge and information regarding radiation and the impact it has on people
and the environment. The amount of radiation in the storage is much more than
that of the reactor. He showed a graph depicting the nuclear share. It showed
how many reactors were built around the world and when they were commissioned.

Unfortunately South Africa wants to create a new reactor
that has not been tested. The dangers are unknown and they are being dishonest
about the prices of the reactors. There are many additional costs which are not
included in the decommissioning of the reactor. South Africa will be deeply in
debt if they go ahead with the decommissioning of these nuclear reactors.

Renewable energy is the best solution. Solar will
eventually replace nuclear and coal. Nuclear is being replaced by renewable but
nuclear companies want to make money so they are trying to convince the
countries to implement it by saying that ‘we could be like a first world
country’. Germany is one of the most economically advanced countries because
they have invested in renewable energy

The floor was opened
to everyone for comments and questions. Many members complained that the lack
of youth participation is worrying. The lack of information and secrecy
indicates that this development is not a good one.